<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family 112th Chapter>
In a town on the outskirts. Park Ki-hyuk stepped into this place, where even passersby were rare.
The path he took was meant to capture the body after tearing off its tail. As he walked along the long barbed wire, a door appeared ahead.
A signplate that read ‘Edville Pension’ hung on the door.
That place, which looked just like a haunted house, was called a pension.
As Park Ki-hyuk opened the door and stepped inside, the poorly hung signplate creaked as if warning him.
Step by step.
He walked slowly.
There was not a hint of light.
He could find no trace of humanity. What he could see was darkness, and all he felt was the chilly night wind.
A cursed house? An abandoned place? In any case, it seemed like a location one would never find unless they had a specific purpose.
In Park Ki-hyuk’s memory, or rather in the memory of Du-chil that he ‘extracted,’ this place was depicted as an unpleasant, terrifying locale no one would want to visit.
A feeling as if he was stripped bare and swept up by insects…
And it was indeed true.
This place was a hideout created by ‘sorcery.’
It was a site of advanced sorcery that stimulated fear, one of human emotions.
In other words, something lay ahead.
“……”
Park Ki-hyuk’s steps quickened.
They got faster, and faster.
Ultimately, he found himself running.
Park Ki-hyuk traversed the path at high speed.
And in an instant, he reached out his fist towards the void.
Crack-!
“……!”
A dull impact sound accompanied the emergence of a Masked Figure?!
A human emerged from thin air?
But that was not the end. Park Ki-hyuk reached out his hand again, this time grabbing the void and throwing it to the ground.
Crash-!
“……”
The Masked Figure slammed to the floor.
“Who the hell are you?”
“……”
There was no response.
Instead, a barrage of daggers was fired at Park Ki-hyuk from behind.
Such a violent greeting. Park Ki-hyuk chuckled as he lifted the Masked Figure and used it to block the projectiles from behind.
Pachimachimachimachack!
Daggers shot like beams of light embedded themselves in the body of the Masked Figure. The Masked Figure began to resemble a beehive, trembling as if having convulsions.
After a moment, the convulsions ceased, and what had once been something human crumbled to the ground.
Park Ki-hyuk pried open the mouth of the fallen corpse.
“As expected…”
Nothing.
It seemed as though it hadn’t screamed; most of the vocal organs, including the tongue, were missing.
An expert. He never expected to encounter a professional assassin here, one usually seen only in tribes or desert cities.
This clarified one thing.
They were not just local thugs.
At this moment, Park Ki-hyuk showed no mercy.
He immediately charged forward, slashing the air with his foot. With a crunch, the sound of bones breaking echoed as the Masked Figure rolled on the ground.
Simultaneously, he deflected an incoming sword with his hand and struck the air with his elbow.
Bang-!
A blast sound was heard, and the Masked Figure, who had been a step behind, fell back. Park Ki-hyuk rushed forward to crush its head with his foot when…
In that instant, a chilling sensation.
It was dangerous.
“……!”
As Park Ki-hyuk twisted his shoulder to evade…
Swish-!
A blade whizzed past right in front of him.
A mark was engraved where Park Ki-hyuk had just been standing.
Another Masked Figure revealed itself from the darkness. One by one, more Masked Figures emerged from the shadows.
On the walls, halfway up the utility poles, on the power lines… even on the roofs.
Masked Figures dressed in black attire, each holding their weapons, were staring this way.
Park Ki-hyuk raised the corners of his mouth in amusement as he scanned the Masked Figures.
An eerily flowing silence.
Killer intent closed in from all directions.
And in this chaotic situation, the first to act was…
The Masked Figures.
Whoosh-!
A signaling flute sounded.
The Masked Figures near Park Ki-hyuk simultaneously drew their swords. Behind them stood others wielding axes, while even further back were Masked Figures holding spears.
Afterward came various weapons: bows, throwing spears, double-ended weapons, shields, and even uncommon items like flails, iron plates, and meteor strikes.
Masked Figures with diverse weapons stood blocking all paths.
They formed a perimeter, slowly suffocating their target, the Triad’s elite.
Eighteen Combat Skills (十八般武藝)
All Directions Array (萬方陳)
The moment the second whistle blew…
Whoosh!
The All Directions Array was activated.
Swords thrust in from all sides. An axe raised walls where escape might have been found, while spears protected allies while chewing into enemy space.
The previous attacks had seemed like mere probing, but now the Masked Figures attacked like a tsunami.
The wave of weapons crashed down upon Park Ki-hyuk.
Yet, Park Ki-hyuk remained calm amidst the wave.
“Haah.”
Park Ki-hyuk settled his breath and flicked away the blade that was approaching his chin with his fingers. He then countered all offensive actions with his bare body.
Hands, feet, elbows, shoulders, knees—all of Park Ki-hyuk’s body moved as if possessed. Each limb found its own path, deflecting weapons.
All were attacks infused with mana.
They were strengthened attacks, formed through the elite array.
The blades that he deflected with ease could slice through rock, while the arrows that were deflected undecidedly could pierce through steel.
Park Ki-hyuk was blocking them all with his bare body.
No sword, no magic, only pure flesh.
Because it was the body of a giant. A power that transcended order.
An exchange ensued, one of offense and defense. To an onlooker, it seemed that Park Ki-hyuk was simply sustaining the onslaught of the Masked Figures.
In reality, it was completely different.
In fact, it was the Masked Figures who were becoming desperate.
Poison had no effect, and ambushes didn’t shake him. It seemed that whittling down physical strength through wheel tactics would also be impossible considering that bizarre physique.
Weapons hidden within the All Directions Array were being easily blocked as if they were nothing.
It was nothingness.
A martial art obtained by abandoning family, name, and even personhood. This martial art, in which he had put everything, could barely take down a single foe.
Maybe that was why… as time went on, the expressions of the Masked Figures turned darker.
On the other hand, Park Ki-hyuk’s expression grew brighter.
‘This is better than I thought.’
He was deliberately sticking to just his physical form, trying to break the habit of reaching for magic first in a panic, and this was not bad in terms of the feel of combat. It had a different taste than that of a sword.
‘If I could grab a sword too, it would be amazing.’
Smirking, Park Ki-hyuk stomped down hard.
Kuwuung-!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
In that moment, Park Ki-hyuk disappeared?
“……?!”
Where Park Ki-hyuk had evaded everyone’s sight, he reappeared on the walls. Behind the enemies who had tormented him with throwing spears.
“……!!”
The startled Masked Figure tried to withdraw, but alas, it was too late.
Pshh-!
His fist had already pierced through the heart.
Park Ki-hyuk snatched a spear from the collapsing corpse and vanished again, this time appearing on the power lines behind a Masked Figure that had been obsessively targeting only his head.
With his hand sharpened, he aimed to slice off its head.
He focused his strength and cut with the delicacy of handling a blade…
Woosh?
…Huh?
As the head was torn away.
“Tsk, that didn’t work.”
It seemed he still wasn’t skilled enough.
Once again, he vanished, and this time their screams resonated from across the roof.
The All Directions Array hurriedly adjusted to encircle him, but each time Park Ki-hyuk mocked them by escaping.
He had made a statement.
The elite array? The All Directions Array?
What of it? So what.
A rat is still a rat, even when gathered together. A gathering of rats cannot defeat a tiger.
He pulled the energy within his body to a higher tier.
Woosh, woosh.
As Park Ki-hyuk rolled his neck, his muscles throbbed like they were gearing up.
Enlarging, shivering, and veins bulging, the fibers of his muscles tore apart indiscriminately.
A flinch.
The Masked Figures stiffened at that sight.
Park Ki-hyuk’s already enormous form felt like it was growing even larger.
It wasn’t that he physically increased. The actual size remained the same. Nonetheless, the level of intimidation radiating from him felt entirely different to the Masked Figures.
It wasn’t just strong; it transcended that, the feeling of something not human.
Was it because of this? Unable to withstand the pressure, one of them began to wriggle and ultimately drew its weapon.
An impromptu action.
A move that broke away from the All Directions Array, and the result… caught the incoming foot of Park Ki-hyuk.
Boom-!!
It exploded.
Not merely shattered but burst alive.
Like a water balloon bursting, bl**d erupted profusely into the void.
“……”
As Park Ki-hyuk was rained upon by falling flesh, he glanced around and spoke.
“Still quite a few left.”
He only needed to leave one.
Park Ki-hyuk vanished with a chilling smile into the darkness.
The night is long.
There’s plenty of time to enjoy it.
Meanwhile, as Park Ki-hyuk rampaged through the organization, there was someone just as busy.
It was Kim Yeon-hee, Park Ki-hyuk’s mother, busily on the phone.
“……I know. I understand the Director’s words well. No matter how superhuman someone is, private sanctions should not be taken lightly.”
It was the 21st century. There were systems and laws that existed.
But just because one was powerful, even if it was just, acting on private sanctions? This was clearly illegal and criminal.
Even superhumans, as long as they were members of this society, could not step outside the law and system, and naturally could not indiscriminately punish others.
Why do knights engage in so much paperwork? To have this recognized, of course.
In other words.
Right now, the actions that Park Ki-hyuk was undertaking carried considerable potential for issues.
“Still, this time is different, isn’t it? They’re distributing drugs, and that too to minors. And a specialized superhuman group did so. This can undoubtedly be seen as ‘villainous’, can’t it?”
However, if the target wasn’t an ordinary criminal but deemed a ‘villain,’ the situation changed.
Villains who committed mass murders or crimes of a similar nature could be dealt with immediately upon discovery without issue. In fact, it was even actively encouraged by the government.
Kim Yeon-hee was speaking about ‘villains’ for this reason.
If the criminals Park Ki-hyuk was dealing with were deemed ‘villains,’ then all problems would be resolved.
“The drugs were not just regular drugs; they were magically processed substances. They could damage souls and eventually break ‘personality,’ these were psychotropic substances. Why is magic strictly punished? Because it violates human dignity, right? This drug does just that. This is extreme poison.”
In that sense, the conditions were not bad.
Firstly, the drugs were a key factor. The glass vial now in Kim Yeon-hee’s hand. This was what her son referred to as ‘Soul Extractor.’
“If word gets out that psychotropic substances were released to minors… this will be troubling for you too, won’t it, Director?”
Allowing her son to go wild was necessary because of this ‘soul extractor.’ Had it not been for this, she would have broken him homeward regardless.
“Yes, do not worry about the Executive Department. I will handle it right away. Oh, Director, this is Kim Yeon-hee speaking. Have I ever treated matters carelessly? Just trust me. Of course.”
After some persuasion, Kim Yeon-hee hung up.
But her tasks were not yet over.
A vehicle that halted at just the right time.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Let’s go to the scene right away.”
She opened the door and stepped out.
In an instant, her expression changed. The Kim Yeon-hee who had just been on the phone with the director in a low posture was gone.
What stood in her place was the witch of Optimum, Kim Yeon-hee.
Dressed in a coat adorned with the Optimum emblem, she walked past, and the police blocking her path cleared the way.
As she approached the front of the building, a foul stench wafted through the air. It was not the smell of corpses or bl**d, but a genuine stench—the smell of feces.
Upon entering the room, dozens of humans were haphazardly tangled together.
“They say humans extracted of their souls become beasts.”
It wasn’t just an expression; they had truly become beasts. They had lost reason, living only by instinct.
Look at them panting and pawing at each other.
What here resembled a sentient human?
Behind Kim Yeon-hee, the Secretary-General approached while pinching his nose.
“With this kind of scene, the Executive Department can’t say anything.”
“Indeed. It’s much worse than I thought.”
Far too serious.
This substance was being released to minors?
The concerns that had only just caused Kim Yeon-hee worry were instantly lifted.
It wasn’t about villains or any such issues; they had to immediately deal with this drug first.
“Director, this is Kim Yeon-hee. I think we need to have a conversation again.”
Incheon Port.
Wang Chai, who had disembarked from the vehicle, boarded the ship.
“It’s been a while, brother.”
“Ah… it has been a while.”
“I’ll lead the way.”
As he looked at his junior’s back, a bitter taste came to his mouth. It felt as if the junior was mocking him for failing in his mission.
“d*mn it.”
Was it too greedy to try to get something from the kids? Was it a mistake to get the underground organization involved? After all, this had been planned by the upper management. In that case, it wasn’t my fault but theirs.
His head was tangled, but he couldn’t express it.
The Triad was fundamentally such a place.
Regardless of right or wrong, simply failing a mission was enough reason for reproach. Conversely, as long as one succeeded in their mission, no matter the means, even wrongdoings were overlooked.
“I hear many of the kids you lead have died. That’s unfortunate.”
“Yeah, uh.”
He didn’t actually know. Wang Chai hadn’t seen it firsthand.
He was merely speculating that they might have been killed based on the two days without contacting him.
To be honest, he was already at the point where they shouldn’t return alive. The request to return to the headquarters was made under the pretense that the task force was lost.
“We’ll depart shortly. Please rest until then.”
No sooner had the junior left than Wang Chai plopped down on the bed with a sigh.
“Ha…”
He thought of his dead younger brothers.
Was it out of guilt for them as humans?
No, it was because it felt wasteful.
“How much money was invested?”
He had spent so much capital to nurture them, only to lose them so easily.
Thinking about replenishing them, Wang Chai’s future appeared grim.
As he closed his eyes, he suddenly heard static, and then a broadcast came through.
– Aaaa. Microphone test. Microphone test.
Wondering what kind of broadcast this was, Wang Chai’s body froze in an instant.
Was it a broadcast from a smuggling boat?
– Is there anyone called ‘Godfather’? Would they know about a fellow named Wang Chai? Anyway.
Inside the wheelhouse, Park Ki-hyuk spoke into the microphone.
“You’re not going anywhere, b*stard.”
